The curve itself
Horizontal curve on a face is how a miss toward heel or toe gets a second chance. On this row we treat that curve as a shutter you either open or lock, after the strike map votes.
We ink a face, we hit a short window we keep dry like a Temecula noon, and we watch whether the marks are a neighborhood or a stamp. Neighborhoods want width. Stamps want a plate. The gate is that vote, not a number from a poster.
Wide gates stay open for wandering strikes. Tight gates stay closed for stamps. A tour radius that ignores the vote gets locked. We do not 'crack it a little' as a souvenir.